


Balanchine's Tarantella

by Moxinetl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ballet AU, Dancer Lance (Voltron), Dancer Pidge (voltron), F/M, There's too many names for this ship...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-02-10 18:12:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12917454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moxinetl/pseuds/Moxinetl
Summary: Katie Holt, the unlikely ballerina has had a crush on her fellow principal dancer, Lance McClain since she first joined the company. Will Katie ever admit to having feelings for him? Will Lance ever reciprocate her feelings?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published fanfic so please bare with my boring writing. This is also posted on fanfiction.net as well as on my art blog on tumblr (an-obscene-amount-of-art.tumblr.com) so go ahead and drop a like over there as well!

Katie Holt wouldn’t consider herself fit for her job. Principal dancers needed to be tall with long limbs. Katie was 5’ 4”. Usually principal dancers had been dancing most of their life. Katie didn’t start until she was 13. Most principal dancers graduated college with a dance degree. Katie graduated with a Mathematics degree. She was the most unfit dancer in her mind, let alone principal dancer for her company.   Lance McClain on the other hand was perfect. He had been dancing since he was 6, is 6 foot, and graduated from a specialized ballet school funded by their company. He had no need to go on to college as he was selected in his senior year to continue as a dancer for the company. Although she could easily name off 17 other dancers from the corps de ballet more suited for the job, she was glad to be able to dance with Lance and have a 6 hour rehearsal with just the two of them 5 days a week and a combined rehearsal with the corps de ballet, soloists, and understudies.

                “We don’t have all day Katie! Hurry up!” Lance called from the other side of the studio.

                They had just finished warming up with the rest of the company and now were starting their rehearsal for their pas de deux from the Nutcracker.

                “Ya, ya don’t get your dance belt all in a twist.” Katie said as she tucked her tied ribbon to the side of her leg, effectively securing her pointe shoe, ignoring the glare the Cuban shot at her.

                Pas de deuxs were difficult when the man behind you, lifting you, and none the less touching you, is who you’ve been crushing on since you got into the company. Many girls(and even guys) would die, or even kill, to be in Katie’s position right now. She was very, _very_ lucky.

                “Alright, let’s go over the lifts towards the end,” the ballet master said, thus beginning the rehearsal.

* * *

 

                Katie looked at the ugly bruises lining her torso in the mirror of the studio before warm ups. Her new olive colored leo she had been anticipating on wearing for weeks did very little to cover the evidence of the failed lift in practice the other day. The leo was just too cute to not wear, not even considering that Katie forgot to do laundry. Again.

                “Is that from rehearsal the other day…?” a voice whispered almost hesitant, even a little nervously.

                “Doesn’t really matter where I got them, but don’t think I’m not going to still beat you for dropping me,” Katie smirked at Lance’s reflection in the mirror, a little shocked to see how his face wrinkled in worry before smirking back at her in the mirror. _Frowns really don’t suit him_ , she thought to herself.

                “Well you already hit me several times with one of your pointe shoes.”

                “They were brand new, I needed to break them in somehow.”

                “And hitting my body with it is the way to do it?” he asked with a quizzical expression.

                “Hitting your thick skull breaks them in faster than any old cement sidewalk could.” She teased while pulling her black tights further up her torso in an attempt to hide her bruises more. Hiding the small wince resulting from resting the tights against one of her worse bruises and proceeding to check out her body lines as well as testing her posture. She tried not to notice Lance’s eyes lingering on her derriere a tick too long before lightly touching one of the visible bruises. Katie tensed and her heart seemed to get stuck in her throat.

                “Are you sure you’re okay? Have you seen the doctor yet?” Lance said as his face grew more serious than she’s seen the entire time of them being friends. _Oh._ She thought. _He really wasn’t looking there was he…_

                “Yes, I’m fine mommy Lance,” Katie mocked before turning to lean against the barre to look him in the eye, returning his serious look. “They said I was lucky to haven’t dislocated or fractured anything. I don’t fancy the idea of doing lifts for a while until the bruises are gone though.” Katie cringed imagining the pain that would result if they did a lift and all her weight were to go on one of the bruises for several, agonizing counts.

                “What? You don’t trust me now?!” he said feigning pain. “You wound me, Kathryn Holt!”

                “That’s not even my real name!” Katie giggled.

                “It’s hard to believe Katie isn’t short for anything though.”

                “Lots of Katies are like that, Lance.”

                “Uh, huh. Whatever,” he said as he started to stretch before class.

                Katie couldn’t help but notice how the other girls looked at her with envy. _If only they knew Lance was actually stupid and insufferable, would they still want him?_ Katie wondered to herself as she pulled on her leg warmers and jogger jacket. _Well, that doesn’t seem to stop me…_ Katie considered to herself.

                The hardest part of combined rehearsals is the fact that Lance always flirts with all the other girls and never seems to notice Katie. The little moments they would share would seem to flit out the window with him.

                After the warm up class had finished and Katie was on a lunch break, the owner of the ballet approached her, looking really excited.

                “Katie! How are you?” she asked brightly.

                “I’m fine Ms. Johnson. What can I do for you?” Katie wondered if she had done anything to make the owner come to her personally.

                “Straight to the point still, I see. I was wondering if I could talk to you in private for a moment?” Ms. Johnson asked while wringing her hands together a little nervously.

                “Uh, sure I guess,” she answered with uncertainty.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance knew his partner better than anyone else and he knew something major was on her mind. Katie only makes major mistakes when something was bothering her and today, she was forgetting choreography and doing the wrong type of arabesques in their pas de deux in almost every turn combo.

                “What’s wrong? Pet die or something?” lance said as he sat by Katie on the ground.

                “No, why?” She didn’t even glance at him. Lance ignored the pain he felt as he realized she was avoiding looking him in the eyes.

                “You were horrible in class today, Katie. Somethings wrong.” Lance nudged her a little. “Now spil-“

                “I’m going to a different company for a collaboration,” interrupted Katie.

                “Oh,” muttered Lance with eyes wide in shock. “Isn’t that a good thing though?”

                “Maybe for you because you’re so confident and talented,” she finally looked him the eye. “I’m not as good as people make me out to be, Lance. Hell, I’m not even as pretty as people claim. And my replacement? She’s gorgeous and perfect, Lance. I’m worried the replacement will turn out to be permanent.”

                “I doubt it,” snorted Lance.

                “This isn’t a joke, Lance! I’m serious,” Katie grabbed her things and left in a rush. She didn’t want to admit she had a major crush on him and knew he would forget her the second the Prima ballerina would come.

* * *

 

                Katie and Lance were to greet Katie’s replacement with Ms. Johnson at the airport.

                “I wonder if she’s as tall as they say she is,” mused a blushing Lance. Katie had learned that Lance had a major celebrity crush on Miss Allura Altea for years. Katie’s worry didn’t ease at all when she saw her approaching them from within the crowded airport. She glanced at Lance to her left and immediately regretted seeing his star-struck, beet-red face.

                “Hello, Allura!” Ms. Johnson greeted as she shook hands with Allura. “These are our principal dancers Lance McClain and Katie Holt.”

                “Hello,” Allura immediately went to a shocked Katie and grabbed both her hands. “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you Miss Holt!”

                “Oh, ditto. Please just call me Katie, though. There’s no room for formalities here,” Katie said with a shy smile as Allura turned to Lance.

                “Nice to finally meet you,” Lance said as he gently grabbed Allura’s hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. Katie frowned and looked away.

* * *

 

                They drove Allura back to the company and both Lance and Katie were put in charge of giving Allura a tour. As she suspected she would be, Katie was immediately thrust into the third wheel position. Watching Lance whisper jokes and hearing Allura’s beautiful bell-tone laugh in response made her absolutely sick. Apparently, Allura had danced the same variation of The Nutcracker they were finishing putting on that night and wanted to dance it with Lance. Katie, was of course, in charge of hitting the play button on the music.

                Watching the two of them dance reminded Katie of two birds dancing in the air in complete synch. _They sure do have chemistry._ Katie thought to herself in contemplation. _I could never have that level of beautiful body lines like Allura. They are like a match made in heaven…_ Katie closed her eyes before her eyes started tearing up.

                When Katie was getting ready for her last performance of the Nutcracker, Lance burst into her dressing room, still in his regular clothes.

                “Where did you go earlier? I have so much to catch you up on!” Lance fell into a seat in an audible and ungraceful fashion.

                “I don’t think I want to know, “ admitted Katie under her breath, choosing to focus on her make up instead of the boy-like man beside her.

                “Yes you do, you’re like my only best friend here Katie. You _have_ to listen to me and care. It’s like the rule of being best friends!” pouted Lance. Katie tried to ignore the pain that grew in her chest at the word “friend.”

                “You can talk, but I can’t guarantee I’m actually listening or not.”

                “That’s good enough for me,” Lance said happily and commenced to rant to Katie all about how beautiful Allura was in person and how she truly is a gifted prima ballerina. Katie chose to focus on her false lashes instead of the heartbreak she felt as she listened to how smitten Lance was for the prima.

* * *

 

                The performance went on without a problem and Katie danced her heart out. Her family surprised her by waiting for her back stage once the ballet had finished.

                “Pidge! You were so great! I’m so proud of you!” her brother Matt mused as he hugged his smaller sister.

                “I didn’t think you and Dad were going to make it?” Katie wonder aloud as she hugged both of her parents and accepted the bouquet they had got her as per tradition.

                “It’s almost Christmas, most people are trying to get the 25th off, not the 16th,” their dad said incredulously.

                “I guess that sounds about right,” smiled Katie. She had momentarily forgot all about Lance who was watching from only a few feet away with a small smile himself. “Oh, how is work going? How close are we to sending people to Mars?”

                “Getting closer and closer everyday,” Matt said proudly as he slung an arm around his sister.

                “That’s so cool,” mused Katie, going off onto an intelligent discussion with her family of the wonders of space.

                As Lance watched and listened from a safe distance away, Allura walked up besides him and whispered, startling the Cuban man. “You like her, don’t you?”

                “What? No! We’re like best bros. There’s no way I could like her,” defended Lance.

                “That’s the same look my father gave my mother all the time and the same look my boyfriend gives me at home,” smirked Allura.

                “B-boyfriend?” muttered Lance. “I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised. You _are_ a catch,” smiled Lance.

                Allura giggled. “Thought I should be clean and make sure you don’t hate me if you found out later. That wouldn’t be good for our professional relationship.”

                Lance chuckled. “You’re right.”

                When Katie glanced and saw Lance laughing with Allura, her heart sunk yet again. _I can’t do this anymore._ She thought. _I’m going to get over Lance McClain._


	3. Chapter 3

After the very emotional goodbyes exchange with her family, Katie wasn’t expecting anything big as a welcome to the company she was a guest at. Boy, was she wrong. Not only was the entire company of dancers there, but they had made a huge “Welcome Katie Holt!” banner decorated with her many interests. How the heck did they find out she loved space and robots to begin with? After standing there in shock for a moment, a tall man with a white streak of hair came to greet her.

                “Hello Katie. My name is Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro. I’m a ballet Master you’ll be working with closely during this collab,” Shiro said as he held out his hand for Katie to shake.

                Katie slowly grabbed his hand. “Hi, you can actually call me Pidge. That’s my nick name within my family. Kinda tired of hearing Katie everyday.” She smiled shyly. Katie turned to look at the rest of the company. “You company is much larger than mine. How did you manage to get everyone here?”

                “The option of a day off if they came to greet you is a good ultimatum,” he said as he winked teasingly. “I trust that Allura made it safely then?”

                “Yup. She fits right in as well.” The ballerina turned and watched a ginger man with a mustache come up to greet her as well.

                “My name is Coran. I am the owner. It’s great to finally meet you, Miss Holt.”

                “You can call me Pidge, Nice to meet you too Coran.”

                The rest of the day went by very quick for Katie. She got to briefly meet her partner, Keith, for the performance of DonQ. But he was very serious and quiet. Shiro said he was just shy at first and everything would be easier as he got to know her better. Katie didn’t know if that was true since Keith only spoke technique with her for the first week. Never the less, Katie wanted to try and talk with him once more.

                “Hey, keith. Sleep well last night?” inquired Katie as she tied her pointe shoes on.

                “Not really,” he admitted.

                “Oh? Why not?” she questioned as she paused.

                “Was too anxious,” Keith simply stated as he pulled his warm ups off.

                “Why?” pressed Katie smirking. “Gonna ask a pretty person out on a Friday night date?”

                “Something like that I guess,” smiled Keith. “Shiro wants us to bond.”

                “Ew… No offense but you could do way better than me,” laughed Katie, surprised to find that Keith was laughing too.

                “So what do you say, Pidge? Movie night tonight?”

                Katie pretended to think. “Well I guess I could reschedule my self-loathing for tomorrow… But only if we’re watching a cheesy show instead of movie. Nothing too serious, okay?”

                “Deal,” Keith promised as they shook on it and got ready for their long rehearsal.

* * *

 

                Katie was surprised to find out how she and Keith worked very well together not only as dancers, but as friends as well. If she wasn’t thinking too hard, she might even consider that their friendship rivalled even her and Lance’s back at home. Every Friday night, after they had finished both The Big Bang Theory and Parks and Rec, they started watching random weird rom-coms from the Hallmark Channel. Of course Katie documented their jokes and fun times all over social media, especially snapchat. Little did she know that Lance was finally starting to realize his feelings for her when she rarely thought him any more since she started being friends with Keith.

                Lance saw everything she put of them on social media and found himself dancing a little more full of anger whenever he happened to think of Katie in practice. _Why does she let him call her Pidge? The last time I tried calling her by Pidge I almost had a pointe shoe shoved down my throat._

                “-ance. Lance!”

                Lance stopped what he was doing to look at Allura.

                “You did your ménage 2 times when you were only supposed to go once. What’s wrong?” She inquired.

                “Just thinking of Katie again… It just pisses me off so much that she’s having so much fun with another guy the moment I realize I like her,” Lance mumbled as he folded his arms frustrate.

                “I keep telling you not to worry and so does you friend Hunk. There’s obviously nothing between them,” she said frustrated herself because Lance just won’t listen to her advice.

                “I can’t just stop worrying, Allura! Aren’t you worried about your boyfriend cheating?”

                “No, I’m not. That’s because I _trust_ him Lance.” Allura sighed as she laid a hand on his shoulder. “Have a little faith in Katie.”

                Lance looked up at her sadly, obviously still feeling insecure and hurt. “Are you sure there’s nothing to worry about?”

                “I’m certain.” Allura smiled before hugging him. “Let’s get back to rehearsing now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be trying to get longer, better written chapter in the future... For now, accept my apologies instead.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watching the ballet Don Q isn't a necessary action you need to do, but it might help make this chapter and maybe future chapters a little clearer. I suggest watching only the first act and Kitri's variation.

Don Quixote was super hard for Katie to master technically. The ballet is set in Spain when exploration was a major concern with an emphasis on the more Spanish side of ballet technique. As a result, everything was bigger, more showy, and faster in comparison to more known ballets like Sleeping Beauty or Swan Lake. Just because it is a hard ballet doesn’t mean she didn’t like it, however. Faster was usually more entertaining and more fun to dance for a full house. One thing she could do without was all the sexual innuendos and especially the kisses she and Keith had to pretend to be enraptured in as Don Quixote and Kitri openly expressed their love for the other. Thankfully, all the kisses were fake and didn’t involve any awkward moments between Katie and her new found friend.

                “Ugh… Why was Spain so _sexual_?” Katie complained aloud to Keith as they walked together from the studio to a nearby café. They had decided on getting hot chocolate since it had been snowing all day.

                “All the brothels and gypsies, maybe?” Keith suggested as he pulled his coat tighter in an attempt to keep the cold out.

                “That’s not really a great thing to be remembered by…” she mumbled more to herself.

                As they went into the warm café, Katie checked her phone out of habit. She saw a snapchat notification from Lance that was sent not too long ago. She furrowed her brow in confusion. _That’s strange for him to want to talk to me first. Probably wants dating advice again._ She thought as she ordered and sat down by the window as Keith waited for their drinks. Katie quickly opened it to see what he had sent.

                _‘Look, it’s you!’_ was the caption with a blurry pigeon seemingly pecking at some food still in it’s wrapper with a smiling Lance in the corner of the screen. Katie snickered to herself. _What a dork._

                Before she could reply, he had sent another one. _‘It stole my sandwich!’_ was the caption with the same bird flying away with a piece of bread. That was all it took to get Katie laughing aloud.

                “What’s so funny? More blackmail on Shiro?” Keith asked as he sat by Katie and set their drinks down.

                “No, my dance partner from home was just attacked by a pigeon,” Katie said fighting back more giggles as she wiped a stray tear from under her eye.

                “Is he the one you like?” he asked nonchalantly.

                Katie blushed furiously and quickly retorted, “No! Well… Maybe at one point I did, but he likes someone else…” she mumbled the last part and visibly deflated slightly as she sipped on her hot chocolate.

                “Have you replied to him yet?” Keith asked curiously.

                “Not yet, why?” she said, knowing that look he got meant trouble.

                “Good, I have an idea.”

* * *

 

                Lance was about to explode. _How **dare** she leave me on open! That was a pure masterpiece that took all day and 5 pigeons to get right! _ He thought to himself as he pouted in his apartment. _A simple ‘Lol’ would have sufficed not silence for 2 hours…_ He sighed and fell onto the couch dejectedly. _I bet she’s with that stupid Keith guy…_ Lance frowned and patted his cheeks. _Stop it! Allura promised nothing could be going on between them. Stop worrying._ Right then Lance’s phone alerted him he got a new message. Excited, he flew from the couch and dove to grab his phone off the table.

                “Finally!” he exclaimed as he saw it was from Katie. After quickly opening her reply, his jaw dropped in shock. She looked like she was in the middle of laughing, but the thing was, was that she had her hair down and curled into waves with a bit of lip gloss coating her lips. _‘Idiot’_  was all she said. Lance had forgotten how much he missed her laughs in response to his jokes in rehearsal. Allura would give him a smile at most. He replied quickly before he would regret his decision.

* * *

 

                “Are you sure about this…?” Katie asked to both Keith and the small woman on the laptop screen. Keith dragged her to his apartment to video call Allura for help.

                “Completely. Especially since he hasn’t even seen your hair out of your ballet bun, this’ll get his attention in the very least.” Allura’s voice said from the speakers.

                “I still think a little more shoulder woul-“ a pillow thrown from the couch stopped Keith from finishing his sentence.

                “I’m not trying to seduce him, Keith!” yelled a flustered Katie.

                “Just dance Lydia’s dance in Act 3 of DonQ if that’s what you want,” Keith flinched as Katie threatened to throw the last couch pillow at his head. The girl had superhero strength when she was mad, and Keith would very much prefer to keep his face as is.

                “I’m not belly dancing either,” pouted the small dancer, offering a glare at a laughing Allura on Keith’s laptop.

                “Has he replied yet?” Allura asked.

                “Oh ya,” said Katie as she picked her phone to check. “Ya, he has.” Katie moved so they could all see his reply.

                The snap was of him facepalming and smiling largely with a tint of pink on his bronze cheeks. He had put _‘I saved them, so we can add them to our best friend scrapbook! Also… who are you getting all cute for? They are lucky.’_   Towards the bottom of the picture.

                Keith looked up see Katie a bright pink. He laughs as he waves a hand in front of her face. “Helloo? Earth to Pidge? Man, you seeing this Allura? She’s whipped.”

                “I am,” giggles Allura. “Well I should go, update me tomorrow how everything goes, okay?”

                “Roger that,” said Keith as he hung up and shut down his laptop. He looks back at Katie to find her face covered and curled into a ball on the couch. Seeing his moment, he grabs her phone and snaps a picture of her and sends it to Lance, saying ‘ _I think you broke her’_ and sets her phone back down. “Let’s get you to your apartment. No offense, but this was more than enough of playing wingman for a whole month.”

                Katie groans as she sits up and nods. “Thanks for everything. See ya tomorrow, I guess.” She quickly grabs her things and goes home, emotionally exhausted.

* * *

 

                When Katie made it back to her apartment, she saw Lance had screenshotted the last snap she sent. _Wait… I never replied back to him…_ She frowned as she realized it must have been Keith. She quickly sent a message asking what Keith sent him before shaking off her coat and the snowflakes from her hair and clothes.

                While she sat down to work on programing her simple and small robot, she thought about what had just occurred.

                _Nothing he said really indicated he likes me… Just the usual playful banter between friends, right? He of all people should know I don’t really do dates in the first place._ Katie shook her thoughts from her head to focus on typing the right commands for the robot.

* * *

 

                “Lance! Hey! There you are!” Allura exclaimed as she found Lance in the warm up area.

                “What’s up, Allura?” he asked suspiciously. She rarely looked for him of her own accord.

                “I was just sent an extra ticket for the performance Katie is doing, but I can’t make it that night. Do you want it?” she asked happily.

                “Aren’t they performing the same time we are...?” Lance slowly stood up.

                “Nope this is the only night we don’t conflict with them. So do you want it?”

                “I don’t see why not,” he smiled as he grabbed the ticket from her hand. _This’ll be a nice change to be able to just watch and not perform… and to see Katie dance from a different view too._ Lance blushed a bit and smiled at the thought of seeing her for the first time in a few months. “Thanks Allura.” He smiled at her and put the ticket in his bag. May 13th couldn’t come fast enough.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little self indulgence at the beginning. Hope this isn't too messy!

Turning off the hot water from her shower, Katie peeked out to make sure the bathroom mirror was fogged up before running to her room, covered in her towel before seeing her naked reflection. Mirrors are never really a problem in practice for her, but bathroom mirrors were her mortal enemy. With how ballerinas perform, you’d never think any of them were as insecure about their body as they really are. Tights hide stretch marks from rapid growth of muscle, the audience is often too far away to notice oddly placed freckles and moles, and pointe shoes hide the ugly, cracked calluses from years and years of training to be as good as they are in the current moment. Although bathroom mirrors often feel like they are actually carnival mirrors, they never lie.

                Katie has the idea body for an aesthetic ballerina, except her height. Even though this is a fact she knows, she still is very conscious of how her body looks and is just as insecure as other body types are. She imagines once she retires from ballet, she’ll live a lonely life as a crazy robot lady because boobs and butts are all the craze now. Even Allura, a person of color, had not only a perfect ballet body, but shares the strength and womanly beauty as Misty Copeland does. Katie has no curves and could easily pull of being a guy if she had a good enough reason to.

                Deciding she should probably look for once at her own body without a leotard on, Katie decides to face her fears. As she looks at her body, she touches each new freckle and stretch mark with each agonizing moment. Before she could get too depressed, she pulls herself from her thoughts and dresses for the day. Instead of a lazy Sunday, Katie needed to go grocery shopping.

* * *

 

                Shopping didn’t help. At all. _Why does Walmart have to have clothes too?_ Katie was cutting through the Women’s section to get to the electronic section. She saw each beautiful dress that she could never fill out like other women can. Reaching out to touch a simple maxi dress in her melancholy, wishing it’s soft fabric could make each insecurity waft away, she felt her phone start to vibrate with an incoming call. Without looking at the caller ID, she answered.

                “Hello?” she questioned sadly, still looking at the dress.

                “Woah, woah, woah, why are you sad, Katie?!” was the instant, loud reply from Lance.

                “Wait… Lance?” Katie said as she snapped out of her thoughts, quickly checking the caller ID just to make sure. ”Why are you calling?”

                “That doesn’t matter, why did you sound so sad when you answered?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

                “Oh… Um, well, I’m shopping an-“

                “ _oh…_ ” interrupted Lance, knowing _exactly_ what was happening.  He has, in fact, helped her in this situation a few times before the collab. “You’re sad, huh.”

                “Yeah, “ said Katie, taken back by the reminder that Lance really does know her as good as she knows herself. “It’s been on my mind all day.” She admitted before going towards her original destination.

                “If it helps any, I’m insecure about my body too,” Lance muttered truthfully.

                “I am not talking to you about your _particle barrier_ in the middle of a Walmart,” Katie teased, being completely honest.

                “Not just that!” exclaimed Lance, obviously very flustered. “I noticed my calves look disgustingly large yesterday.”

                “So are mine, Lance. We’re professional ballet dancers. Of course we have large calves.”

                “No, I mean, mine are disgusting, Katie. Yours’s are lovely, mine are like tumors.”

                Katie sighs. “Have you looked up workouts to even it out yet? Remember, that’s what I had to do with my hamstrings and quads.”

                “Not yet,” contemplated Lance. “But aren’t you supposed to tell me something like ‘Don’t worry, Lance! Your body is very beautiful! Nothing could be ugly on your princely body!’” mimicked Lance in a high-pitched voice.

                “I’d never say such an embarrassing thing,” laughed Katie as she stopped by the Xbox One games. “Say, did you get Battlefront II yet? Matt says there’s a lot of flying involved, not just shooting stormtroopers and Darth Vader.”

                “I ordered it last night actually,” Lance said, going with her sudden topic change. “Hunk was the one who told me to get it. We should play together once you get back.”

                “Sounds good to me,” smiled Katie, moving away from the electronics to the food.

* * *

 

                Lance considered his calves in his full body mirror after hanging up with Katie. _Maybe I should take her advice and work on evening it out if I can._ He thought before grabbing his phone and Googling some work out plans.

                Lance would never forget the first time Katie came to him about her insecurities about her body. They had gone shopping together since her car had broken down and Hunk was fixing it up. He had drove her the places she needed to be for 2 week. He had grabbed a sexy little black dress to joke about to her, but instead of her usual quick fire response, she stared at it sadly and admitted she could never wear a dress like that and feel comfortable let alone sexy. He remembers she was wearing baggy, comfortable clothes that day with her hair in a messy bun. Sighing at the memory, he thought of how cute she is in her casual outfits.

                Lance set down his phone as he realized how little she actually opens up to people. _I wonder what she is hiding from me still…_ He thought as he sat on his bed. _I may not be as smart as she is, but she is definitely an enigma I want to solve._

* * *

 

                Lance had performed Don Q only once, and that was before Katie was promoted to Principal Dancer. He doesn’t even remember if she was even in the corps at the time. He remembered only the choreography here and there so he couldn’t really say if this Keith guy was really all that great at the performance. Oh, but Katie was absolutely _divine_ , Lance decided. She smiled a huge, genuine smile as she danced. Lance assumed it was from how much she loved to dance, definitely not because of Keith. He promised himself he wouldn’t assume anything just. He just could not stand Keith kissing her so much. He, for once, couldn’t tell if those kisses to her neck or lips or cheek were real or not. Even stage kisses touched _somewhere_.

Lance gripped the small bouquet he got her tighter as the final bows started. He stood and clapped for her a moment before making it backstage, showing his proper backstage allowance, thanks to Allura, and waited for Katie, practically bouncing as he waited for her.

The moment Katie saw him, she froze in confusion. “Lance?” Seeing it really was him, she ran to him. “Why are you here?” she said, unable to fully contain her excitement.

“Allura gave me a ticket back in February,” he excitedly said as they hugged for a moment too long to be between only friends.

“I thought you had a performance last night?” she questioned as she peered up at him.

Lance pulled back and nervously scratched his neck. “I did. Had to fly right after I performed. Do you know how hard it is to sleep on a plane?”

“I do,” laughed Katie, eyeing the bouquet quizzically.

“Oh, right! I figured since your family probably couldn’t make it, I would stand in their place and keep the tradition going.” Lance smiled as he held them out to her.

“Wow, thank you so much Lance,” Katie smiled at him as she held the flowers close to her heart. “When do you fly back?”

“Same time, same flight as you,” smirked Lance. “Didn’t know Hunk and Matt were friends too.”

Katie stood slack jaw for a moment before recovering. “That makes sense why he asked me all those questions…”

Lance chuckled and lightly nudged her as he said “Hurry up and change! We have a reservation to uphold!”

“Reserva-“

“No questions just change,” smiled Lance.

“Alright, alright. I’m going.” She smiled a bit before going into her dressing room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a sudden spark of inspiration, I'm sorry if it seems rushed! I wanted to get a lot of content in this chapter. I might edit it later if I reread it and am not satisfied.

While waiting for Katie, Lance peered around at the dancers of this company. They were a lot more diverse than the one he worked for. The men were of all heights and the girls had different body shapes. It wasn’t bad, Lance decided, it was just different. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed that during the performance.

Tapping his foot anxiously, Lance leaned against the wall as Keith passed by. Lance couldn’t help but glare in his direction as he caught his eye.

“Can I… Help you?” Keith asked indifferently to the stranger.

“Ya, keep those lips away from Katie.” Snapped Lance.

Keith looked briefly confused before smirking at Lance with a mischievous grin. “Ah. You must be the infamous Lance MCclain.”

Lance inhaled sharply in offense. “Infamous? No, no, I assure you that I am actually famous.”

“Whatever makes you sleep at night,” shrugs Keith. “Anyways, do you know where Pidge went? I need to talk to her about something. It’s mildly urgent.”

Lance looked at him quizzically before nodding to her dressing room door. “Changing.”

“Thanks,” Keith said before moving to open her door.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you’re doing?” intercepted Lance.

“Going to talk to her?” answered Keith confusedly.

“You can’t just walk in on a lady if she’s changing!”

“Someone walk in on you Lance?” a smug voice questioned.

Keith smirks at Katie who just walked out of the dressing room. “Oh, ya. He screamed exactly like you described.”

Lance folds his arms, pouting as the other two laughed.

“So Shiro was wondering if you’d be ok with a last minute mini performance before your flight tomorrow as an act of charity to that nearby children’s hospital.” Keith asked as he finishes laughing.

“Ya, I don’t mind,” answered Katie while fixing her blouse that was tucked into her black jeans.

“Sweet, I’ll go tell him. See ya tomorrow then,” he waved before pausing to look at Lance. “Remember to use protection.” Both blushed while watching him go.

“So…” started Katie while rubbing her arm awkwardly.

“Right, we should hurry,” Lance said while guiding Katie gently by the small of her back through the crowds to the car Lance rented.

The ride was awkwardly silent for the most part, the last few months being enough to make them feel weird around each other again in person. Lance parked at a fancy restaurant and lead Katie in despite her protests.

“Let’s just go to KFC or something,” whined Katie.

“No, this is perfect.”

“Ugh I feel so under dressed,” pouted Katie more to herself than to Lance.

“You look perfect, Katie,” he said smiling gently down at her.

Katie groaned. “Don’t get all sappy on me Lance.”

They both laughed quietly as they were seated.

Dinner went by much better than the car ride in Lance’s mind. They chatted and got caught up on everything they missed in the past few months, Lance stifling groans whenever Katie mentioned Keith.

“Is he really all that great?” asked Lance while poking the vegetables on his plate.

“Who?” Katie asked before eating the last of her steak.

“Keith. I mean, he’s okay looking, but his mullet,” he shudders at the thought. “It’s no Bueno for the ladies.”

Katie giggles. “I mean, he doesn’t get distracted and drops me mid-lift in practice.”

Lance folds his arms and pouts, pride hurt. “I guess you guys really are close then, huh? Your snapchat story is always of you two,” he says bitterly.

Katie slowly puts down her fork, confused. “All I do is work, eat, and sleep so of course it’s going to be mostly us two on my story. He’s my only friend here I can feel close to, Lance.”

“Well, you will be going home tomorrow and you can forget all about him and-“

“Forget about him? Are you serious Lance? What are you, my boyfriend? I can be friends with whoever I want to _without_ your approval,” says Katie, getting frustrated.

“Wait, no that’s not what I meant Katie-“

“Then what _do_ you mean, Lance? It’s not like I can wait around watching you flirt with every girl you see _except_ me, hoping for the day you finally see me as the woman I am. I can have all the guy friends I want since you can have all the girl friends you want.”

“Katie,” sighs Lance. “I _do_ see you as a woman now.”

“You know, Lance,” Katie stands, placing money on the table. “I think you are a few months too late to be telling me this. I promised myself I’d get over you. And I did.” _That’s a lie, what are you doing Katie?_ She thought in the back of her head, too frustrated to think out what she’s saying first. “I wish you and Allura all the happiness. I heard her boyfriend broke up with her yesterday. Maybe you should go and comfort her instead.” Katie didn’t realize what she had said and what she had done until she was already out the door, running home, leaving a heartbroken Lance in the restaurant alone.

The next morning, what Katie did began to settle when she saw what Lance texted her the night before. _I’m sorry for being the idiot I am and realizing my feelings too late. Wish you the best at your performance today. See you on the plane home. Please don’t be mad at me anymore, I just want to pretend what happened last night never happened._

Katie couldn’t bring herself to reply, the tears making it too hard to even see her phone screen well enough. _I’m sorry too, Lance._ She thought to herself, hoping he could somehow hear her apology from her mind.

Keith had given her a ride to the children’s hospital they were performing at and were waiting in the hallway outside of the makeshift stage for the children.

“Jeez, you look like crap. Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine. Let’s just have a good performance for those kids,” she said while mustering her stage smile before placing her hand on top of his as their cue came closer.

Katie couldn’t stop thinking about Lance and the inevitable meeting they will have in a few hours during the performance. She was a professional and made little to no mistakes despite her distracted mental status. The only major mistake she kept catching herself doing was sickling her feet. She never had that problem before, but just thought it was just because she was distracted. All too soon, one of those moments of sickling one of her feet in a quick passage of movement caused her to misstep. The pain that cascaded to her right ankle as a result was nearly unbearable. _Crap this has to be broken. Good job Katie! Letting your thoughts cause a stupid injury at the beginning of the performance with an hour and a half left to go,_ she thought angrily to herself. Mostly running on adrenaline, she focused on her breathing, the counts of her movements, the emotion at that part of the ballet, the odd color of wallpaper on the walls, anything to not think of the pain of her dominant, weight baring ankle.

After the main performance, the rest of the time was spent talking with the kids and demonstrating a few movements they wanted to see. Luckily for her, they mostly wanted to see lifts. Keith, being tired from the performance, somehow convinced Shiro to do the harder ones. Katie thanked whatever Deity that was out there that she didn’t weigh too much.

By the time they were done, the pain had moved up her shin a bit. _I can’t miss my flight, I can wait to get it looked at. It’s no big deal,_ she reasoned with herself.

* * *

 

_I should become an actress,_ Katie thought as she sat in her seat on the plane, waiting for the announcement to leave. Keith and Shiro had no clue what happened with her little misstep. Lance was a few rows in front of her so they didn’t have to sit in awkward silence.

Standing once the announcement was made, she instantly had to grab the seats for stability. _Okay, that hurts a lot more now._ She pushed through the pain as much as she could while waiting for everyone else in her row to grab their stuff and leave. She watched Lance wave a small wave before rushing off the plane. Katie worried her lip seeing how Lance looked like how she felt, the guilt weighing her down on the shoulders bit by bit.

She took her time getting off the plane, masking the pain as best as she could. _Lance didn’t look like he wanted to wait for me. I’ll just give my stuff to Matt and go to the doctor._ Katie thought as she limped along the paths to baggage claim, gripping the handrail for dear life.

Her family, seeing how she was limping and practically sweating buckets rushed her to the ER where she got scolded for not addressing the injury sooner. The doctors took a bunch of x-rays and made her sit in a private room to discuss the treatments she’ll need.

“The X-rays came back, but I’m afraid its much worse than just a broken ankle Miss Holt” the doctor said.

“…Go on…” she said nervously.

“There are micro-fractures on the base of your tibia. You will need to have surgery for your ankle and extended rest after to heal everything properly.”

“How long will I be out of dancing, sir?” she asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

“Hard to say. Months if you heal fast, a year at most after physical therapy. I personally don’t suggest you dance again. This injury can bare it’s teeth again a few years down the road if you aren’t careful.”

Katie nods slowly. She smiles a brave smile to her family, fighting back the tears from falling. “It seems the universe doesn’t think I’m fit for ballet either.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't think i was going to update yet here I am. Updating. This is much better than the last trainwrek of a chapter so enjoy! Thanks for all your support and comments! I love reading them!

Lance waited for Katie to come back. As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, his mind gradually forgot about their falling out. A year and a half would pass before he stopped thinking of her in his subconscious thoughts. He had forgotten that they were still friends on snapchat until the day came when she randomly updated her story. Lance was almost too scared to see what she put on there, almost opting to not look at all in fear of what, or even who, he might see.

                Curiosity getting the better of the male dancer, he opened up her story and watched the video that ensued.

                As the camera was tilted into focus as if being propped up against something for support, Lance saw Katie had cut her hair short and messy, resembling her elder brother a bit too well, wearing glasses. He didn’t even know that Katie wore glasses. Her small frame, seemingly smaller than the last time he saw her, was drowned in an oversized sweater. He noticed black stains all over the pale green sweater as well as all over her face. 

                “Okay! This is test 52 of my master’s degree project. This is little sucker took 4 months of no sleep to code so let’s hope he works! Get ready for launch Matt!”

                Katie hurriedly sauntered off the camera to start the launch. Lance noticed Katie had some kinesthetic tape on one leg as if it had an injury. _Since when did that happen…?_ Lance thought himself as he watched the launch of a weather balloon with several groups of insulated instruments, hand built and coded by Katie herself, float away into the Earth’s atmosphere. The story cut to another video of Katie jogging with a slight limp in a field of some kind of vegetable to the landed payload.

                “Let’s hope the parachute deployed this time,” said a familiar voice behind the camera.

                “Free-fall from above the earth’s outer-most atmosphere is not good for the instruments,” chuckled Sam Holt, Katie’s father.

                “Matt! Dad!” the camera quickly shifts from Sam to Katie who is hopping around like an excited child hugging the payload tightly to her chest. “The parachute deployed and all the instruments stayed warm! I think this launch is the one! Let’s hurry and check the data!” There were a few cheers before the snapchat story ended.

                Lance stared at his phone for a few minutes processing what he just saw. _Instead of dancing… She went back to school to get her masters’ degree? I didn’t think she had any injuries to worry about… I want to ask and see what happened, but will she answer me after our friendship was pretty much ruined?_  

                Lance paced a few minutes before settling on asking her in person on his day off.

* * *

 

                Lance wasn’t sure if Katie was going to even want to talk to him, but he had to try. He went up to the Holt residence and knocked on the door before he could stop himself. Katie’s mom answered the door.

                “Hi, can I talk to Katie for a second?” Lance asked pretending to be confident and not like he was about to sprint away at any moment.

                “Of course, would you like to come inside?”

                “Sure, it is a little cold outside today,” Lance said as he timidly walked into the front room of the house, pulling off his jacket.

                Lance looked at all the family photos in frames around the room waiting for Katie to come in. They seemed like a cookie-cutter, happy family. Lance thought about his own family and how he doesn’t even remember his own father’s face anymore, but he couldn’t care less about the jerk who left his mom a single mother to care for him, his siblings, and grandmother alone.

                “Lance..?” said a shocked Katie in the doorway.

                Lance stood quickly, stammering out a little too eager greeting. “H-hi Katie.”

                “What brings you here?” Katie slowly rubbing her arm, uncomfortable in the situation.

                “I uh… I saw your snapchat story the other day and was wondering about a few things.”

                “Oh. What do you want to know?” Katie leans against the doorframe awkwardly, not sure what to expect.

                Lance took a deep breath, thinking through his words first, not wanting to make his former dance partner mad at him again. “Why haven’t you come back to the dance company?”

                Katie slumps a little, staring at the floor before suddenly looking up. “Want to go get coffee or something?”

                “Uh.. Sure I guess,” answers Lance, shocked of her sudden eagerness. “As long as it’s not a way of you trying to get out of answering my questions.” Lance smiles softly, feeling a little more comfortable around his old friend.

                “I’ll answer them, don’t worry,” smiles Katie back. “It’s just gonna take more energy than I have to explain it all to you.”

* * *

 

                The café they went to was decorated in a sickening pastel theme. But that wasn’t the reason why Katie was sick to her stomach. The truth was, was that she hadn’t confided in anyone about her injury, not even to her good friends Keith or Hunk. She thought it would be easier just to disappear on everyone for a bit, and before she knew it, it was almost 2 years later without a single conversation to her old friends. It’s not like she didn’t trust them or anything, she just didn’t want to be pitied or babied because of a stupid injury. She filled her days between surgeries on coding and getting her masters, something she decided she needed to do. She almost didn’t want to tell anyone because then they would wait on her to heal and keep a position open for her to come back to ballet. She was always questioning whether or not she truly belonged in the profession. She subconsciously decided the injury was a message form the universe telling her to stop pretending and go into something more suited to her like robotics or engineering or coding. She missed dancing and sometimes she would catch herself trying to dance one of her favorite parts from different ballets. She learned a bit of the footwork of the white swan from swan lake, but still being weak in her ankle prevents her from doing that often. She doesn’t know what she’ll tell Lance, but she knows she misses their friendship more than anything so she wants to trust him. She, more than anything, hopes their bond she tore apart with her immaturity can be mended.

                They grabbed their drinks and sat by the window.

                “So, I guess it’ll be easier if I hear all you want to know then I’ll answer them all at once.” Katie says as she sits down.

                “Okay,” Lance considers this a moment before listing off the questions he has. “Why haven’t you gone back to our company? What made you decide to go back to school? What is your area of study?” Lance hesitates a moment before continuing. “Do you hate me..? Do you think you might come back soon? Can we ever go back to how we were before?”

                Katie slowly sips her coffee, “That’s a lot of questions.” She sets down her cup and folds her arms across her chest. “I’ll just start from the beginning.

                “After our fight, I had a demo before the flight. I was making a lot of simple mistakes which resulted in me breaking my ankle. I didn’t know it was broken until I had gotten home. They did three surgeries; two to repair my bones, a third to fix a hidden injury in my Achilles due from me tying my pointe shoe ribbons too close to the back of my ankle. I’ve been in physical therapy since doing lots and lots of floor barre and water ballet.

                “I had a lot of free time on my hands and decided to get my master’s degree in making robotics and scientific instruments. My final research project is developing new instruments for atmospheric research hence why I had a balloon launch last week.

                “I haven’t come back because I can’t. i..” Katie sighs and looks at her hands. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to dance again. My ankle strength isn’t where it used to be. Nor do I really think I should. I miss it sometimes, but then I remember how I just didn’t really belong.”

                A warm hand drapes over her shaking ones. “Katie.. I’m so sorry. You should’ve told me sooner. You don’t have to suffer alone.”

                Katie looks up at Lance and is shocked to see him with small tears forming.

                “Any injury is a dancer’s worst nightmare. Why did you think you could handle it alone? You have me, fight or no fight, I’m always there for you Katie,” Lance says while squeezing her hand.

                A few tears escape Katie’s eyes before her face breaks into a genuine smile. “Thanks Lance.” Katie squeezes lance’s hand back gently, appreciating the long-lost feeling of a much needed friend.

                “If this means anything, I think you belong on the stage more than I do.” Lance confesses a little sheepishly.

                “What? No way!” Katie says earnestly. “You are a freaking god on the dance floor, Lance!”

                “Not since you left,” Lance admits shyly. “Plaxum doesn’t dance anything like you do. She’s too aggressive in her movements.”

                Katie nods, trying to imagine the two dancing. “Didn’t you have a huge crush on her 2 years ago?”

                “No! I mean I flirted with her, but she was way too-“

                “Aggressive,” they said at the same time, bursting into a fit of giggles.

                “Do you think you would want to do at least one more performance with me? I mean, the Gala is coming up and I think we could learn something in time,” Lance says after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

                “Maybe… I think I could last maybe 20 minutes at most en pointe,” Katie admits.

                “That’ll work,” Lance smiles.

                Katie smiles back then suddenly panics seeing the time and stands, hurriedly shoving her jacket on. “Hey, I have to go, can we meet up again soon and plan out what we want to do for the gala?”

                “Ya, name the day and I’ll show up,” Lance says, also standing up.

                “Sweet, thanks for everything Lance!” Katie rushes to the exit then hesitates only a moment. “Oh and Lance? I could never hate you. Your too beautiful to hate.”


End file.
